ChangeWave shows iPad dominating steady tablet market

This month the analysts at ChangeWave are reporting that the tablet market as a whole is growing steadily as of this May, with the iPad continuing to show undeniable dominance over its competitors. The only two tablets shown to be grabbing a market share worth mentioning in this study were the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, with ChangeWave noting that Samsung is growing while Amazon falls. This study shows that tablet demand as of May of this year continues to grow steadily, with 7% of respondents saying they were planning on purchasing a tablet in the next 90 days.

This study shows the Apple iPad to be taking 73% of the market as of May 2012 with the Amazon Kindle Fire sitting in second with 8% and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (the whole line) sitting in third with 6%. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is showing growth as Samsung has "doubled its share of planned purchases" since last quarter when this same study was conducted and, again according to ChangeWave are "the only other manufacturer besides Apple showing some signs of market strength going forward."

That's quite the statement given that the only other competitor showing up on the scale is the Kindle Fire which shows sales dropping quarter after quarter here in the study as well. Back in November of 2011, the Kindle Fire held an amazing 22% of the market, that being right after its release. Fast forward to March of 2012 and this tablet's share has fallen to 7%, with a 1% increase here in May.

As a bit of a bonus on this particular study, ChangeWave asked respondents how likely it was that they would purchase an Apple iPad Mini if it were revealed in the future. This tablet, they said, would be a 7-inch iPad with the same features as the current 3rd Generation iPad but with a smaller screen. This tablet would cost $299 in its 16GB wifi only model. Respondents who either said that they were very likely or somewhat likely going to purchase an iPad Mini if it did indeed have those specifications came out to be 17%. That's encouraging for Apple if indeed they do decide to release such a device.

"At the moment, the greatest competitive threat to the new iPad could well be the iPad Mini – which doesn’t exist yet, but even if it ever does, it too will be made by Apple. When it comes to tablets, the ChangeWave survey shows Apple continuing to exert near total control over the market." - Dr. Paul Carton, ChangeWave’s Vice President of Research

Check the timeline below to see other ChangeWave reports we've looked at in the past as well, and think about the future of the tablet market!